¹第六 年 六 月 初五 日，我坐在 家中 ；犹大 的众长老 坐在 我面前 。在那里主 耶和华 的灵（原文是手 ）降在 我身上。

¹And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

¹ CHAPTER VIII

Here begins a section of prophecy extending to the twelfth

chapter. In this chapter the prophet is carried in vision to

Jerusalem, 1-4;

and there shown the idolatries committed by the rulers of the

Jews, even within the temple. In the beginning of this vision,

by the noblest stretch of an inspired imagination, idolatry

itself is personified, and made an idol; and the image

sublimely called, from the provocation it gave God, the

IMAGE OF JEALOUSY, 5.

The prophet then proceeds to describe the three principal

superstitions of this unhappy people: the Egyptian, 6-12,

the Phoenician, 13, 14,

and the Persian, 15, 16;

giving the striking features of each, and concluding with a

declaration of the heinousness of their sins in the sight of

God, and the consequent greatness of their punishment, 17, 18.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII



Verse 1. In the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day

of the month] This, according to Abp. Usher, was the sixth year

of Ezekiel's captivity. The sixth day of the fifth month of the

ecclesiastical year, which answers to August A.M. 3410.



This chapter and the three following contain but one vision, of

which I judge it necessary, with Calmet, to give a general idea,

that the attention of the reader may not be too much divided.



The prophet, in the visions of God, is carried to Jerusalem, to

the northern gate of the temple, which leads by the north side to

the court of the priests. There he sees the glory of the Lord in

the same manner as he did by the river Chebar. At one side he sees

the image of jealousy. Going thence to the court of the people, he

sees through an opening in the wall seventy elders of the people,

who were worshipping all sorts of beasts and reptiles, which were

painted on the wall. Being brought thence to the gate of the door

of the house, he saw women weeping for Tammuz or Adonis. As he

returned to the court of the priests, between the porch and the

altar, he saw twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary

and their faces towards the east, worshipping the rising sun. This

is the substance of the vision contained in the eighth chapter.



About the same time he saw six men come from the higher gate

with swords in their hands; and among them, one with an ink-horn.

Then the Divine Presence left the cherubim, and took post at the

entrance of the temple, and gave orders to the man with the

ink-horn to put a mark on the foreheads of those who sighed and

prayed because of the abominations of the land; and then commanded

the men with the swords to go forward, and slay every person who

had not this mark. The prophet, being left alone among the dead,

fell on his face, and made intercession for the people. The Lord

gives him the reason of his conduct; and the man with the ink-horn

returns, and reports to the Lord what was done. These are the

general contents of the ninth chapter.



The Lord commands the same person to go in between the wheels of

the cherubim, and take his hand full of live coals, and scatter

them over the city. He went as commanded, and one of the cherubim

gave him the coals; at the same time the glory of the Lord, that

had removed to the threshold of the house, now returned, and stood

over the cherubim. The cherubim, wheels, wings, &c., are here

described as in the first chapter. This is the substance of the

tenth chapter.



The prophet then finds himself transported to the east gate of

the temple, where he saw twenty-five men, and among them Jaazaniah

the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the

people, against whom the Lord commands him to prophesy, and to

threaten them with the utmost calamities, because of their crimes.

Afterwards God himself speaks, and shows that the Jews who should

be left in the land should be driven out because of their

iniquities, and that those who had been led captive, and who

acknowledged their sins and repented of them, should be restored

to their own land. Then the glory of the Lord arose out of the

city, and rested for a time on one of the mountains on the east of

Jerusalem, and the prophet being carried in vision by the Spirit

to Chaldea, lost sight of the chariot of the Divine glory, and

began to show to the captivity what the Lord had shown to him.

This is the substance of the eleventh chapter.



We may see from all this what induced the Lord to abandon his

people, his city, and his temple; the abominations of the people

in public and in private. But because those carried away captives

with Jeconiah acknowledged their sins, and their hearts turned to

the Lord, God informs them that they shall be brought back and

restored to a happy state both in temporal and spiritual matters,

while the others, who had filled up the measure of their

iniquities, should be speedily brought into a state of desolation

and ruin. This is the sum and intent of the vision in these four

chapters.

²我观看 ，见有形象 彷彿火 的形状 ，从他腰 以下 的形状 有火 ，从他腰 以上 有光辉 的形状 ，彷彿光耀的精金 。

²Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

² Verse 2. The appearance of fire] See Clarke on Eze 1:27.

³他伸出 彷彿一只手 的样式 ，抓住 我的一绺 头发 ，灵 就将我举到 天 地 中间，在神 的异象 中，带 我到耶路撒冷 朝 北 的内 院 门口 ，在那里有触动主怒 偶象 的坐位 ，就是惹动忌邪的 。

³And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

³ Verse 3. The image of jealousy] semel hakkinah. We

do not know certainly of what form this image was, nor what god it

represented. Some say it was the image of Baal, which was placed

in the temple by Manasses; others, that it was the image of Mars;

and others, that it was the image of Tammuz or Adonis. Calmet

supports this opinion by the following reasons:-1. The name agrees

perfectly with him. He was represented as a beautiful youth,

beloved by Venus; at which Mars, her paramour, being incensed and

filled with jealousy, sent a large boar against Adonis, which

killed him with his tusks. Hence it was the image of him who fell

a victim to jealousy. 2. The prophet being returned towards the

northern gate, where he had seen the image of jealousy, Eze 8:14,

there saw the women lamenting for Tammuz. Now Tammuz, all agree,

signifies Adonis; it was that therefore which was called the image

of jealousy. 3. The Scripture often gives to the heathen idols

names of degradation; as Baal-zebub, god of flies; Baal-zebul; god

of dung. It is likely that it was Adonis who is called The dead,

Le 19:27, 28; De 14:9, because he was worshipped as one

dead. And the women represented as worshipping him were probably

adulteresses, and had suffered through the jealousy of their

husbands. And this worship of the image of jealousy provoked God

to jealousy, to destroy this bad people.

⁴谁知，在那里有以色列 神 的荣耀 ，形状 与我在平原 所见的 一样。

⁴And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

⁴ Verse 4. The vision that I saw in the plain.]

See Clarke on Eze 3:23; see also Eze 1:3.

⁵神 对我说 ：人子 啊，你举 目 向北 观看。我就举 目 向北 观看，见祭坛 门 的北边 ，在门口 有这惹忌邪的 偶象 ；

⁵ ¶ Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

⁶又对我说 ：人 子 啊，以色列 家 所行的 ，就是在此行 这大 可憎的事 ，使我远离 我的圣所 ，你看见 了么？你还要看见 另有大 可憎的事 。

⁶He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

⁷他领 我到院 门口 。我观看 ，见墙上 有个 窟窿 。

⁷ ¶ And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.

⁷ Verse 7. A hole in the wall.] This we find was not large enough

to see what was doing within; and the prophet is directed to dig,

and make it larger, Eze 8:8; and when he had done so and entered,

he says,-

⁸他对我说 ：人 子 啊，你要挖 墙 。我一挖 墙 ，见有一 门 。

⁸Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

⁹他说 ：你进去 ，看 他们在这里所行 可憎的 恶事 。

⁹And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

¹⁰我进去 一看 ，谁知，在四面 墙上 画着 各样 爬物 和可憎的 走兽 ，并以色列 家 一切的偶象 。

¹⁰So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.

¹⁰ Verse 10. And saw-every form of creeping things] It is very

likely that these images pourtrayed on the wall were the objects

of Egyptian adoration: the ox, the ape, the dog, the crocodile,

the ibis, the scarabaeus or beetle, and various other things. It

appears that these were privately worshipped by the sanhedrin or

great Jewish council, consisting of seventy or seventy-two

persons, six chosen out of every tribe, as representatives of the

people. The images were pourtrayed upon the wall, as we find those

ancient idols are on the walls of the tombs of the kings and

nobles of Egypt. See the plates to Belzoni's Travels, the Isaic

Tomb in the Bodleian Library, and the Egyptian hieroglyphics in

general. Virgil speaks of these, AEn. lib. viii.:-

Omnigenumque Deum monstra, et latrator Anubis.



"All kinds of gods, monsters, and barking dogs."

¹¹在这些象前 有以色列 家 的七十 个长老 站立 ，沙番 的儿子 雅撒尼亚 也站在 其中 。各人 手 拿香炉 ，烟 云 的香气 上腾 。

¹¹And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

¹¹ Verse 11. Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan] Shaphan was a scribe, or

what some call comptroller of the temple, in the days of Josiah;

and Jaazaniah his son probably succeeded him in this office. He

was at the head of this band of idolaters.

¹²他对我说 ：人 子 啊，以色列 家 的长老 暗中 在各人 画象 屋 里所行的 ，你看见 了么？他们常说 ：耶和华 看不见 我们；耶和华 已经离弃 这地 。

¹²Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

¹³他又说 ：你还要 看见 他们另外行 大 可憎的事 。

¹³ ¶ He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

¹⁴他领 我到耶和华 殿 外院朝北 的门口 。谁知，在那里有妇女 坐着 ，为搭模斯 哭泣 。

¹⁴Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

¹⁴ Verse 14. There sat women weeping for Tammuz.] This was Adonis,

as we have already seen; and so the Vulgate here translates. My

old MS. Bible reads, There saten women, mornynge a mawmete of

lecherye that is cleped Adonydes. He is fabled to have been a

beautiful youth beloved by Venus, and killed by a wild boar in

Mount Lebanon, whence springs the river Adonis, which was fabled

to run blood at his festival in August. The women of Phoenicia,

Assyria, and Judea worshipped him as dead, with deep lamentation,

wearing priapi and other obscene images all the while, and they

prostituted themselves in honour of this idol. Having for some

time mourned him as dead, they then supposed him revivified and

broke out into the most extravagant rejoicings. Of the appearance

of the river at this season, Mr. Maundrell thus speaks: "We had

the good fortune to see what is the foundation of the opinion

which Lucian relates, viz., that this stream at certain seasons of

the year, especially about the feast of Adonis, is of a bloody

colour, proceeding from a kind of sympathy, as the heathens

imagined, for the death of Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar

in the mountain out of which this stream issues. Something like

this we saw actually come to pass, for the water was stained to a

surprising redness; and, as we observed in travelling, had stained

the sea a great way into a reddish hue." This was no doubt

occasioned by a red ochre, over which the river ran with violence

at this time of its increase. Milton works all this up in these

fine lines:-

"Thammuz came next behind,

Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured

The Syrian damsels to lament his fate,

In amorous ditties all a summer's day;

While smooth Adonis, from his native rock,

Ran purple to the sea, suffused with blood

Of Thammuz, yearly wounded. The love tale

Infected Sion's daughters with like heat:

Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch

Ezekiel saw, when by the vision led,

His eye surveyed the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah."

Par. Lost, b. i. 446.

Tammuz signifies hidden or obscure, and hence the worship of

his image was in some secret place.

¹⁵他对我说 ：人 子 啊，你看见 了么？你还要 看见 比这更 可憎的事 。

¹⁵ ¶ Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

¹⁶他又领 我到耶和华 殿 的内 院 。谁知，在耶和华 的殿 门口 、廊子 和祭坛 中间，约有二十 五 个人 背 向耶和华 的殿 ，面 向东方 拜 日头 。

¹⁶And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

¹⁶ Verse 16. Five and twenty men] These most probably represented

the twenty-four courses of the priests, with the high priest for

the twenty-fifth. This was the Persian worship, as their turning

their faces to the east plainly shows they were worshipping the

rising sun.

¹⁷他对我说 ：人子 啊，你看见 了么？犹大 家 在此行 这可憎的事 还算为小 么？他们在这地 遍 行强暴 ，再三 惹我发怒 ，他们手拿枝条 举向 鼻 前。

¹⁷ ¶ Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.^a

¹⁷ Verse 17. They put the branch to their nose.] This is supposed

to mean some branch or branches, which they carried in succession

in honour of the idol, and with which they covered their faces, or

from which they inhaled a pleasant smell, the branches being

odoriferous. That the heathens carried branches of trees in their

sacred ceremonies is well known to all persons acquainted with

classic antiquity; and it is probable that the heathen borrowed

those from the use of such branches in the Jewish feast of

tabernacles. There are many strange, and some filthy,

interpretations given of this clause; but the former are not worth

repeating, and I abominate the latter too much to submit to defile

my paper with them. Probably the Brahminic Linga is here intended.



It really seems that at this time the Jews had incorporated

every species of idolatry in their impure worship,-Phoenician,

Egyptian, and Persian. I might add that some imagine the image of

jealousy to be a personification of idolatry itself.

¹⁸因此，我也要以 忿怒 行事，我眼 必不顾惜 ，也不可怜 他们；他们虽向我耳中 大 声 呼求 ，我还是不听 。

¹⁸Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.